Chinese game developer and operator The9 Limited has entered into an agreement with U.S. online game developer Red 5 Studios that will see the former acquire a “majority interest” in the latter for approximately $20.0 million.

The9 previously operated World of Warcraft in China, before losing the WOW license to its Chinese rival NetEase. The9 still operates games such as FIFA Online 2 for Electronic Arts, in addition to its own games, such as World of Fighter and Atlantica. In its most recently reported quarter, The9 reported a 94.0 percent decrease in revenues to approximately $3.7 million U.S., versus the same period from a year earlier. It cited the loss of its WOW license, which expired on June 7, 2009, as the main reason for the drop.

Given that Red 5 is made up of former executives and game developers from WOW-creator Blizzard Entertainment, the deal seems to make a lot of sense, at least on paper. Red5, however, says that it “can’t tell you" what it's working on.

Zub Zhu, The9’s Chairman and CEO, said about the deal, “With the acquisition, The9’s global strategy is beginning to take shape. It will further enhance our game development capability and diversify our game portfolio and pipeline.”

Zhu will also take over as President when current President’s Xiaowei Chen term expires on May 16 of this year. Chen’s contract was not renewed.

The9’s market cap of approximately 176.0 million pales in comparison to its rivals like NetEase (5.18 billion), Shanda Interactive (2.78 billion) and Sohu.com (2.07 billion).

Comments

The9 has a very small market cap compared to its rivals, but this can change quickly in this dynamic market. More and more Chinese companies are buying assets around the world, including Canada and USA.

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Wymorence: For me it just boils down to the fact that, even at a giant company, when a game comes out annually it just gives it a vibe of being rushed out the door. And god knows Unity sucked some major lemur with all its bugs...03/31/2015 - 4:22pm

PHX Corp: I launched my spotify account today, and I kinda went a little overboard with adding music03/31/2015 - 3:59pm

Sora-Chan: Con't. Games like AC are a pain to someone like me who likes to play games in order. So when a game gets too many releases too quickly, it puts me off. Only exceptions are games that have no interconnected underlying stories like the FF games.03/31/2015 - 2:53pm

Sora-Chan: Wikipedia has rarely let me down on matters like this. But yeah... AC needs a break.. like two.. or three... or eight years.03/31/2015 - 2:51pm

Conster: There's 9 already?! I think I played 1, 2, and the ones inbetween 2 and 3.03/31/2015 - 2:23pm

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Sora-Chan: I tried to get into AC. Was having a decent time with the first one, at which point they had already released three titles. Then a fourth came out... then a fifth... the wall kept growing before I could finish the first.03/31/2015 - 2:14pm

Daniel Lewis: I think ubisoft should give AC a break before it's milked to death,and i'm a big fan of the games03/31/2015 - 1:15pm

Daniel Lewis: The only thing said i disagree with is the final quote on Men's experiences are seen to be universal but women are gendered,though doesn't anita say that games with male protagonists are male power fantasies,so in turn both are gendered03/31/2015 - 1:08pm

Daniel Lewis: i found the video to be much better than any of the TvW series and it's about time the positive women are put in the spotlight03/31/2015 - 1:06pm

Daniel Lewis: So feministfrequency released a positive female character video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXmj2yJNUmQ03/31/2015 - 1:05pm

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james_fudge: Conster: the larger issue is that Ind. does not protect LGBTQ+ people under state law03/31/2015 - 12:11pm

PHX Corp: @MP I think it is confirmed(not an April Fools joke) http://mynintendonews.com/2015/03/31/nintendo-direct-confirmed-for-wednesday-april-1st/03/31/2015 - 12:00pm

Conster: Apparently Pence intends to amend SB101 so denying service isn't allowed - without explicitly protecting LGBT+ and while still allowing the many other things you can get away with now if it's motivated by your religious beliefs.03/31/2015 - 11:53am

MaskedPixelante: http://mynintendonews.com/2015/03/30/rumour-nintendo-direct-on-april-1st/ A supposed full leak of tomorrow's Nintendo Direct, so you can all laugh and laugh about how wrong it is.03/31/2015 - 11:35am

PHX Corp: http://kotaku.com/why-a-tekken-7-character-is-being-called-a-phoney-1694724959 Why a Tekken 7 Character Is Being Called a Phoney03/31/2015 - 10:08am